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Empire of Senmaria
Senmaria is a region of Al-Jazraby that was the site of the first Estier Elven civilization after the destruction of the Tower of Ballsharoth, and along with Eptor the first urban civilization since the close of the Mythkal Era. The Empire of Senmaria is a name that actually refers to several Empires established in the area throughout its history. The Elven tribesmen living in pre-Senmarian Eastern Al-Jazraby were able to settle, abandoning a Nomadic lifestyle, because the region was extremely fertile and able to sustain farming. This was largely due to Eiden, the Human God, using magic to terraform the region, establishing the Girit and Pharetes rivers. It was the Senmarian tribesmen who established the first Estieran written language, which was adopted by all eventually used by all Estier Elves. Name The name Senmaria was the name of the largest Elven Tribe in the region. Their language was adopted by most of the nearby tribes, and when the tribal societies began to transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural the tribes in the area all became culturally homogenous, adopting the term Senmarian after the language they spoke. The other notable tribe in the area was the Kadak Tribe, who lived in the far-east of the region. They had their own language, and were culturally distinct from the rest of Senmaria. Notable Settlements Before the region was united under one ruler, the settlements in Senmaria were all governed by independent rulers. Each settlement worshiped their own Patron God from the Estier Elven pantheon (the Estier Elven pantheon consisted of the Mages who were members of the Tower of Ballsharoth at that time), and the local Mage Hall dedicated to the Gods often had more political influence than the secular rulers. Five settlements were existent at the time of the Tower of Ballsharoth, and were said to have each been ruled by one of the highest ranking Mages of the Tower. These were as follows: * Tel Eir-Arhain * Tel Ba-Tira * Tel Saral * Tel Sibbah * Tel Shurafa Other major settlements that had a formal governance system in place before the Empire were: * Shik: The first city to have a King after the Tower of Ballsharoth was destroyed * Urhar * Kuraw * Nippak * Tel Gashal * Urgis * Muam * Zamahi * Tel Bedama * Kadak * Eidura History Before the Empire Estier Elven tribesman began roaming the region nomadically around 6500 BC, however the region was not able to support settlements until around 4000 BC when it became more fertile. The tribesmen credit the Elven Gods Ianna and Ekin with teaching the Estier Elves how to farm, and for using magic to make the area more fertile. The brutality of the Estier Elves towards each other, and their brutality towards the Eidenmen to the South (and subsequent brutality in response by the Eidenmen) led Eiden to use magic to flood Al-Jazraby in approximately 3500 BC, killing thousands. The Eidenman Neuhdin used magic to save many, as he was warned by Eiden. As settlements developed, it became necessary for the Tribes to adopt a system of formal governance. Shik was the first city to do so, with Rujash declaring himself the first Elven King. The city of Kuraw, founded by Enmar became the most powerful city in the region around 3000 BC, partially because they were the first city to construct barges, allowing them to shift large volumes of goods and large amounts of troops. Kuraw also began enslaving Tribal Elves to the East of Senmaria. During this period Senmaria was a collection of independent Cities that were ruled by Kings. These Kings had little influence beyond the walls of their cities, and the farmland surrounding their village viewed the cities as a place to trade goods, rather than the Homes of their Lieges. Rise of the Empire Ironically, as magic became more powerful in Eidenheim, the influence of Elven mages decreased, with Elven Mages focusing more on the study of magic than meddling with political affairs, however magic did play an increasingly important role in Senmarian society. Gilagaim, King of the City Kusraw, used magic to build walls around Kusraw, making it the first fortified city in Senmaria (post-Ballsharoth). The Cities of Senmaria became larger, as local Kings (some little more than bandits who had declared themselves a King) raided undefended villages, forcing Elves to take refuge. The Kings fortified settlements either with the magic of their mages, or hard labour. During this period the farmers living nearby settlements began to actually respect the Kings, either because of fear of raiding or gratitude for protection. The increasing violence in the area led to many of the Kings seeing the need for the City-Kingdoms to be united under a single ruler who could keep order Tel Gashal Empire: 2500-2270 BC Eanatum, King of the City Tel Gashal, was the Elf who united Senmaria in 2500 BC. He allied with the Kingdom of Shik ad conquering every other City in the region. He was particularly harsh in his subjugation of Muam, which was reduced to a small village after Eanatums army had pillaged it. He had his Court Mage use magic to produce a large monument of himself in Muam, which stands till this day. Eanatum was able to maintain stability in the first Empire of Senmaria, however his heir was a poor ruler, and, Elagil Zaysi, a mage who had been a child in Muam when Eanatum razed the city, led an uprising, overthrowing the Emperor and declaring himself Mage-Emperor. The final stronghold of the Emperors loyalists fortified themselves at Kusraw, which had the strongest fortifications of any City in Senmaria, and after Elagil Zaysi conquered the City he forbade his army from sacking it and made it his Capitol. Empire of Kadak: 2270-2083 BC The City-Kingdom of Kadak had been the Kingdom that was least pleased with being ruled, mostly because the City was established by the Elven Tribe of Kadak, meaning the people of Kadak spoke the Kadak language, not Senmarian, and had a distinct culture which lead to tension between them and their Senmarian rulers. Argos, the King of Kadak, declared Kadak independent of Senmarian rule in 2280 BC, and the following year conquered Shik, making known his intention to establish Kadak rule over the Senmarians. He waged war with Senmaria and by 2270 BC he had conquered all of Senmaria. In addition to military warfare, after conquering the Senmarian Cities, he waged cultural warfare, banning Senmarians from teaching children, and harshly enforcing laws rendering speaking Senmarian illegal and suppressing Senmarian culture. He did this in order to cement Kadak as the culture and language of Senmaria. After uniting Senmaria under his rule, Argos turned his attention to Asryia, which at that time was almost entirely Elven tribes and small settlements ruled by tribal Chieftains who were fiercely independent, with the exception of Eb-Al and Hir-Mari, two trading Cities who had little loyalty from the surrounding tribal farmers who were technically their subjects. He subjugated the tribal elves with ease, and when he came to the borders of Hir-Mari land he chose to meet with the Hir-Mari King, who agreed to swear fealty to Kadak and pledge his armies to the conquest of Asryia, if Argos agreed to destroy Eb-Al. Eb-Al was burnt to the ground by the Kadak army, and by 2268 BC Argo ruled over Asryia and Senmaria, uniting all of North Al-Jazraby under one Empire. Argos ruled until his death in 2284 BC. His heirs expanded Kadak by conquering Elmora in 2180 BC, and this was the largest extent of Kadak. By 2150 BC Elmora had seceded from Kadak, and the City of Tel Gashal had also declared itself the true Empire of Senmaria. By this time Kadak could not afford to pull its back from maintaining peace in its holdings or defending its borders from Elven tribes, so they were unable to reconquer Tel Gashal. Similarly Tel Gashal did not have the resources to seize land from Kadak, so the second Tel Gashal 'Empire of Senmaria' consisted of the City of Tel Gashal. In approximately 2083 BC, the Guitan Tribe of Estier Elves from the East of Kadak invaded, ruthlessly fighting in battle and seizing control of the Empire. Their tribal form of governance was ill-suited to ruling an Empire as large as Kadak and the Guitan Chieftain had little interest in holding lands beyond Senmaria, resulting in Asryian holdings of Kadak becoming independent. In 2050 BC Kusraw stopped paying tribute to the Guitan, effectively declaring independence, and the following year Kusraw drove the Guitan out of Senmaria, establishing themselves as the ruling City. Urhar Empire: 2047-1940 BC The Third major Empire established from Senmaria was the Urhar Empire. In 2046 BC the Kusraw Emperor ruling Senmaria moved his Capitol to Urhar, and expended considerable resources towards restoring Senmarian culture and eradicating Kadak culture. He also mobilized the army to retake Kadak Empire lands to the West of Senmaria. In 2044 BC Urhar conquered Tel Gashal, and in 2030 BC Urhar conquered Elmora. Fall of the Empire The Urhar Empire suffered a catastrophic blow when the fertility of Senmaria began to decline. The magic Eiden had used to terraform the region was fading. In 1970 BC a war for an independent Asryia was begun from the city of Asru, and in 1950 BC the city of Si'in declard itself independent of Urhar. In 1939 BC Elmora declared its independence, and invaded Urhar, sacking the Capitol. The Aromite tribes from North of Asryia had begun raiding the Empire at its Western border some years before, intensifying the same year and by 1938 BC the Empire had collapsed, with Si'in seizing control of southern Senmaria, and the Empire ceasing to exist (with its former subjects either swearing fealty to the King of Hesuena, the King of Si'in, or remaining independent.